UAE authorities release Egyptian journalist after a month

The Emirati authorities released the
Egyptian journalist Anas Fouda on August 4, 2013, after holding him incommunicado
without charge for a month, the journalist told CPJ. Security officials told
Fouda that his UAE residency was revoked and took him to the Abu Dhabi
International Airport, where he flew to Cairo to join his family, Fouda said.

Fouda, an editorial director for the MBC
group, reported for interrogation on July 2 in the emirate of Ajman with an
official from the Egyptian consulate. He said that he waited for several hours
after which he was blindfolded, chained, and taken to an unknown prison with three
other Egyptians.

Fouda said he was held in solitary
confinement throughout the time he was in detention and had only a mattress, a
prayer rug, and a Quran. He was not allowed to have his eyeglasses for the
first few weeks and was blindfolded each time he asked to go to the bathroom. He
said the lights in his cell were very bright and were never turned off.

Fouda told CPJ he was interrogated twice
during his captivity. He said that on the second day of his detention, he was
asked about his connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. He said he had joined
the organization many years ago but ended his activities in
1995 and that he had turned down a recent job offer with the Muslim
Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt because he was not interested
in working in politics.

The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt
and the Emirati authorities had launched a series of arrests and prosecutions of purported members in 2013.

Fouda was questioned once more before his
release at the end of July. He said he was blindfolded and taken to a room where
he was shown a video of Egyptian Defense Minister Gen.
Abdul Fattah al-Sisi announcing the removal of former President Mohamed Morsi
on July 3, 2013. This was the first time Fouda learned about the ouster.

Fouda said that later the same day he was shown pictures of several
men with long beards wearing Emirati and Pakistani dress. He denied knowing any
of them.

After about two weeks, Fouda said, he was
transferred to a smaller cell in another prison at an unknown location. The day
before his release, he was sent back to the first prison. He said he believes
the first prison is in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi because it took 20 minutes to
drive by car from the prison to the Abu Dhabi International Airport after his
release.

Local and international human rights and press
freedom groups, including CPJ and the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, waited for nearly a month after Fouda's detention
before going public at the request of the journalist's wife, Abeya. On August
2, 2013, Nabil Fahmy, the Egyptian foreign minister, raised concern about Fouda's
case in a meeting with the Emirati minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar
Mohammed Gargash, according to news reports. Two days
later, Fouda was released.

Fouda told CPJ that he was grateful for the organization's help in advocating
for his release.